INDIAs MOST EXPENSIVE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE- THE RASHTRAPATI BHAWAN

The Indian presidential palace is illuminated during the Beating the Retreat ceremony in New Delhi.

While millions are homeless, live in appalling conditions in India, the president lives in a palatial 340-room palace.

It is the largest residence of any chief of the state in the world.

Even as population of people in India's slums is projected to rise to 93 million in 2011 or 7.75 percent of the total population, our head of the state lives in a grand palace maintained at a cost that runs into crores.

In 2007, the maintenance cost of the presidential palace was estimated to be more than Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) per year!

The electricity bill of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2007-2008 stood at Rs 6.30 crore (Rs 63 million) followed by Rs 6.88 crore (Rs 68.8 million) in 2008-2009 and Rs 6.67 crore (Rs 66.7 million) in 2009-2010.

Besides the Rashtrapati Bhavan at New Delhi, the President has official residences in two other states - Rashtrapati Nilayam near Secunderabad and The Retreat at Mashobra, near Shimla.


A view of India's presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is one India's best archiectural marvels. A magnificent four-storeyed mansion, it has a floor area of 200,000 square feet. It was built by using 700 million bricks and three million cubic feet of stone. 



Guards stand in the Mughal gardens surrounding Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The cost of building this architectural wonder escalated to Rs 12.8 million, much higher than the projected cost.
The building along with the Mughal Garden and the staff quarters together coast a whopping Rs 14 million at that time.
At the present rates, its value would runs into thousands of crores. The building was scheduled to be completed in four years. However, it took 17 years to complete this magnificent building.



Guards stand in the Mughal gardens surrounding Rashtrapati Bhavan

Edwin Lutyens was the chief architect of this impressive residence and Hugh Keeling was the chief engineer.
The most prominent and distinguishing aspect of Rashtrapati Bhavan is its dome which is superimposed on its structure.
Indian contractor Haroun-al-Rashid did most of the work of the main building and the forecourt was built by Sujan Singh and his son Sobha Singh. 



A ceremonial reception at Rastrapati Bhavan.

The British decided to build a platial residence in New Delhi for their Viceroy. They wanted 'an empire in stone' to establish their colonial footprint in the Indian soil.
It is interesting to note that the building which was scheduled to be completed in four years took seventeen years and on the eighteenth year of its completion India became independent.



Rastrapati Bhavan.
After independence when C Rajagopalachari assumed the office as the first Governor General of India, he refused to stay in the Ashoka Suite used by the Brisih Viceroy terming it as too luxurious.
He preferred to stay in one of the guestrooms. The tradition was followed by successive presidents. 



Indian President's Bodyguards (PBG), mounted on their horses.

On 26 January 1950, when Dr Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India, the building was renamed, Rashtrapati Bhavan - the President's House. 



Indian troops from the Border Security Force 

The sprawling edifice has 74 lobbies and galleries, one and a half miles of corridors, 18 staircases and 37 fountains.
The building was made with materials from India. Only the Italian marble was imported for the flooring. Steel is hardly used in the building.



President Pratibha Patil waves to photographers from the famous Mughal Garden.

The luxurious apartments that were used by the British Viceroy is converted into a guest wing where the Heads of State of other countries stay during their visit to India. 




A ceremonial reception at the presidential palace in New Delhi.

An interesting feature of the architecture of the Rashtrapati Bhavan is the fusion of Indian and European designs.
Temple bells, which are part of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions have been perfectly blended with the Hellenic style architecture. The idea to design bells in the pillars of Rashtrapati Bhavan came from a Jain temple at Moodabidri in Karnataka 




Women's road race cycling event, Rastrapati Bhavan in the background.

The highlight of the building is Chhajja. These are stone slabs which are fixed below the roof of a building and are designed for the purposes of preventing the sunrays from falling on the windows and protecting the walls from the rains. Chhatris adorn the rooftop of the building. 



Indian and African dancers perform during a cultural programme at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The chhajjas, chhatris and jaalis give building a historic look. In some of the jaalis, Lutyens used European styles to enhance their beauty and utility. 



Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa receives Arjuna Award from former President Abdul Kalam.

The Durbar Hall, Ashoka Hall, Marble Hall, North Drawing Room, Nalanda Suite are famous for its aesthetics and grandeur.
The Yellow Drawing Room is used for smaller state functions like swearing-in of Comptroller and Auditor General, Chief Election Commissioner and induction of a solitary Minister in the Union Council of Ministers. 



Belgium's King Albert II delivers a speech before an official dinner at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The lavish Banquet Hall can accommodate 104 persons. The Ashoka Hall gives the feel of a large jewel box. It was originally built as the State Ballroom. It has a wooden floor, a central dance space, and three vestibules. 



Rashtrapati Bhavan's interiors.

Unlike most halls and chambers in Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Ashoka Hall has a painted ceiling. The painting is in the Persian style.
The main painting on the roof depicts a royal hunting expedition while those towards the corners show scenes from court life.
The painting done on leather was commissioned by Lady Willingdon when her husband was the Viceroy. 



Rashtrapati Bhavan's grand interiors.

The North Drawing Room is used for receiving visiting heads of state.
Two striking paintings are - The Transfer of power on August 14 by S N Goshal and swearing-in ceremony of First Indian Governor General. 



Mughal Gardens.

The Mughal Gardens spread across 13 acres is a blend of Mughal and British styles. The Mughal Gardens are open to the public in February-March every year. 




Rashtrapati Bhavan surrounded by beautiful garden.

Two channels running north to south and two running east to west divide this garden into a grid of squares. 




Roses bloom in Mughal Gardens.

The garden has a variety of exotic flowers and roses. The Rashtrapati Bhavan also has nine tennis courts, a polo ground, a 14-hole golf course and a cricket field. 

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6 PLACES TO SEE B4 THEY DISAPPEAR

Whether it's down to human-made pollution or the natural erosion of time and tides, some places in the world are facing a ticking clock when it comes to their future.
According to the experts, the following places are due to disappear, so, here's a rather sad roll-call of some of the most spectacular places which are under threat.

Venice





One of the loveliest cities on earth, Venice is also said to be one of the most doomed. Thanks to an imperfect combination of the land sinking and the water levels rising.
Venice has sunk by around 7cm a century for the past thousand years, but a report suggests that process has sped up and in the last 100 years, Venice has sunk by 24cm. Climatologists believe that Venice could be uninhabitable by 2100.
The Italian government is committed to spending millions of schemes to help prop the city up and save it from the waves, however no scheme so far seems to have the answers.

The Great Barrier Reef




If you've ever watched 'Finding Nemo' and assumed that real life can't possibly be as bright as a cartoon, Australia's Great Barrier Reef will prove you wrong. It's simply astounding, the colours of the fish and the coral are hyper-real.
However, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Great Barrier Reef, and the nearly $5 billion tourist industry built around it, could be “extinct” by 2050. This is due to climate change and pollution.
A process called bleaching happens when the acidity of the ocean increases due to the absorption of carbon dioxide, which kills off the micro-organisms that make up the reef. 

The Dead Sea




It's the world's most salty body of water, famous for its healing properties and the fact that no matter how hard you try, you simply can't sink in its buoyant waves! However, the Dead Sea is under threat of draining dry. In 2006, according to the now ex-Jordanian Minister for Water and Agriculture, Hazem Nasser, "There is a declination in the level of the sea at about one metre every year." Jordan are lobbying for more water to be pumped into the Dead Sea from the Red Sea. The authorities say that unless nearly two billion cubic metres of water per year is pumped into the Dead Sea, it will disappear in 50 years time.

The Great Wall of China




Built around 2000 years ago to keep out the marauding hordes, the Great Wall of China is a dazzling man-made achievement.
At its peak, the Great Wall reached 4,500 miles from South Korea to the Gobi desert.
However, the World Monuments Fund has put the Great Wall on a list of the 100 most endangered structures and the Beijing Daily Newspaper reported that, "Around a third of the 2000-year-old structure is merely rubble and the same amount again has completely disappeared".
Sandstorms are to blame for a more than 37-mile stretch of the wall being destroyed, although a great deal of the wall has been destroyed thanks to generations of farmers using the wall to build and repair their homes and farms.

The Amazon Rainforest




More than 20% of the world's oxygen is produced in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, which is why it's often described at the lungs of the planet.
The Rain forest is one of the world's natural marvels, with more than half of the estimated 10 million species of plants, animals and insects on earth, living in its tropical forest.
However, between May 2000 and August 2005, Brazil lost more than 132,000 square kilometers of forest—an area larger than Greece — and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed.
With de-forestation running at such a rapid rate, experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. 

Polar Bears in Canada



Canada's western Hudson Bay is famous for being the best place on earth to see Polar bears around the Churchill, Manitoba area.
Sadly, those days could be numbered because of global warming.
According to research from biologist Andrew Derocher and others from the University of Alberta, "the polar bears in western Hudson Bay have lost 25 percent of their population in the past three decades.
" Because of the loss of sea ice, the polar bears now spend three more weeks on land than they did three decades ago, during which time they are unable to hunt.
According to calculations by experts, the western Hudson Bay polar
bears could die out in 25 to 30 years. 

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Things you should know

1. Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.

2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.

3. The dot over the letter i is called a ''tittle''

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.


5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.

6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.[/S1]

10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.

11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.

12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.

13. Most lipstick contains fish scales (eeww).

14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.

16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.

17. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time ... hence, multi-tasking was invented.

18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!

21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!

22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.

23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a Captain Kirk mask painted white.

25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)

26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)

27. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.. It's the same with apples!

30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher. Oye!

32. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.

33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it.

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Sky Park Singapore. Amazing

June 24 in Singapore, opened a new wonder of the world. "Sky Park" Marina Bay Sands is located on the 200-meter height on the three skyscrapers, as if on three pillars. Here is the most expensive in the world of casinos, bars, restaurants, the largest outdoor swimming pool, 150 meters long and even the Museum of Modern Art.

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WORLD'S BIGGEST FAMILY

The world's biggest family: The man with 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren

Ziona Chana lives with all of them in a 100-room mansionHis wives take it in turns to share his bedIt takes 30 whole chickens just to make dinner
He is head of the world's biggest family - and says he is 'blessed' to have his 39 wives.
Ziona Chana also has 94 children, 14-daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren.
They live in a 100-room, four storey house set amidst the hills of Baktwang village in the Indian state of Mizoram, where the wives sleep in giant communal dormitories.





You treat this place like a hotel: With 100 rooms the Ziona mansion is the biggest concrete structure in the hilly village of Baktawng


Mr Chana told the Sun: 'Today I feel like God's special child. He's given me so many people to look after.

'I consider myself a lucky man to be the husband of 39 women and head of the world's largest family.'
The family is organised with almost military discipline, with the oldest wife Zathiangi organising her fellow partners to perform household chores such as cleaning, washing and preparing meals.
One evening meal can see them pluck 30 chickens, peel 132lb of potatoes and boil up to 220lb of rice.


Coincidentally, Mr Chana is also head of a sect that allows members to take as many wives as he wants.





He even married ten women in one year, when he was at his most prolific, and enjoys his own double bed while his wives have to make do with communal dormitories.
He keeps the youngest women near to his bedroom with the older members of the family sleeping further away - and there is a rotation system for who visits Mr Chana's bedroom.
Rinkmini, one of Mr Chana's wives who is 35 years old, said: 'We stay around him as he is the most important person in the house. He is the most handsome person in the village.

She says Mr Chana noticed her on a morning walk in the village 18 years ago and wrote her a letter asking for her hand in marriage.



Shared bedroom: A look inside the four-storey mansion, Chhuanthar Run - The House of the New Generation



Another of his wives, Huntharnghanki, said the entire family gets along well. The family system is reportedly based on 'mutual love and respect'

And Mr Chana, whose religious sect has 4,00 members, says he has not stopped looking for new wives.

'To expand my sect, I am willing to go even to the U.S. to marry,' he said.

One of his sons insisted that Mr Chana, whose grandfather also had many wives, marries the poor women from the village so he can look after them.
 

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JAPAN MAKING PENSIZE LAPTOP....DO U BELIEVE.??

Look closely and guess what they could be... 

Are they pens with cameras? NO

Any wild guesses? NO Clue Yet?? NOT YET
Ladies and gentlemen... congratulations!You've just looked into the future...yep that's right!
You've just seen something that will replace your PC in the near future.

Here is how it works:

In the revolution of miniature computers, scientists have made great developments with bluetooth technology...

These are the forthcoming computers you can carry in your pockets . 

This 'pen type of instrument' produces both the monitor as well as the keyboard on any flat surface from where you can carry out functions you would normally do on your desktop computer 

Can anyone say .'Good-bye laptops!

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